


the sweet shy pirouette, your hair

by DeepComplaint



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: I know Elves don’t sleep and I don’t care, Kravitz is insanely goopy but we been knew, M/M, Pre-Episode: e051-057 The Suffering Game Parts 1-7, gratuitous hair brushing, he has so many feelings, mostly Kravitz introspection tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:33:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22142617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeepComplaint/pseuds/DeepComplaint
Summary: Kravitz had gotten quite good at mortal time since he started seeing Taako regularly. Having dates planned really made him pay attention to days of the week and time of day in a way that seemed beyond insignificant before. So, he’s fairly certain Taako is late.Kravitz contemplates mortality. Taako takes a nap.
Relationships: Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone)
Comments: 20
Kudos: 87





	the sweet shy pirouette, your hair

**Author's Note:**

> For reference, this is probably two weeks before The Suffering Game. This story wasn’t directly inspired by [this art](https://lexicals.tumblr.com/post/182984476681/kravitz-week-day-6-new-familywarming-up-did) by [lexicals](https://lexicals.tumblr.com)/[Dooiney_Oie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dooiney_Oie/pseuds/Dooiney_Oie), but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t influence it. Title for this fic is pulled from e.e. cummings’ poem [“Amores II. in the rain-”](https://www.poeticous.com/e-e-cummings/in-the-rain) from _Tulips_ , which is kind of the mind space Krav is in at this point. He’s also very Sarah McLachlan’s [“Sweet Surrender”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMkcMyVu2-Q), which I listened to while I wrote this one.

Maybe it was...foolish, but Kravitz had gotten quite good at mortal time since he started seeing Taako regularly. Having dates planned really made him pay attention to days of the week and time of day in a way that seemed beyond insignificant before. So, he’s _fairly_ certain Taako is late.

If he had been meeting Taako at a restaurant or some other neutral location, this wouldn’t be concerning. Taako isn’t exactly punctual most of the time, and Kravitz is used to watching him arrive at a hostess stand half an hour late, dressed to the strangest nines and adjusting an endearingly enormous hat. But ten minutes ago, he’d cut a portal directly into Taako’s bedroom, expecting to find him perfecting his look, but the wizard was nowhere to be found. Kravitz can tell from listening at the door that no one is in the Reclaimers’ apartment. After being alone for ten more minutes, he’s getting concerned. Could he have been sent out on his mission already? Did he get called up after Kravitz talked to him yesterday? Surely Taako would have called to let him know, right? He’s seriously considering going into his reaper form to locate Taako’s soul and make sure everything is okay, but he hears the sound of the outer apartment door and positions himself in the room so he’ll be seen immediately by Taako, so as to not startle him, but won’t be seen by his teammates. He doesn’t want to Magic Missile’d at short range by his...by Taako.

Taako comes into the room in a whirlwind, flipping his cloak onto his bed and revealing the most utilitarian outfit Kravitz has ever seen him wearing, although he’s fairly certain Taako still isn’t completely following dress code. He’s in drawstring pants and a t-shirt that proclaims he “survived the Camp Goodfriend Trial of Teamwork”, which he has clearly cropped short. His hair is falling out of a haphazard bun on top of his head, tendrils curling around his swiveled ears, and one ringlet stuck to his forehead with sweat. Kravitz swallows thickly at the sight.

“Hey, bones,” he says, not stopping even for a second in his mission to remove his clothes. “Give me two shakes to whip up a real ensemble—” he yanks his shirt over his head, groaning a little, and rolling his shoulders as he continues, “—and do something with my hair and _gods_ , I need a shower. Lucretia really fuckin’ kicked it up a notch today.” The pants get shucked to his ankles, back popping slightly in his haste. “I get it, we’ve got the most important job in the world or whatever, but shit, Taako’s got his own schedule and it doesn’t involve being suplexed by a Dragonborn rogue for for 7 hours a day, four days a week.”

Kravitz nods uselessly, unable to stop looking at Taako’s face and _his neck_ , glistening with sweat, a sight he’s only ever seen… “Take—” his voice rasps, and he coughs needlessly. “Take your time. It’s fine. I’ve got plenty of time to kill.”

Taako finally actually fully acknowledges Kravitz in order to give him a derisive look for the pun as he puts his dirty clothes in a pile behind his bathroom door and stretches his upper body. “Okay, I’m definitely not sorry about holding us up now.”

Kravitz laughs. “Not that you were apologizing before!” he calls at Taako who’s closing the door behind him. A couple seconds later, Kravitz hears the shower start and he tries to clear his mind as he sits on Taako’s bed. He’s a grown adult who can definitely not have an erection because of some sweat.

An impossibly short amount of time later, Taako emerges, letting steam into the bedroom, face flushed and tan skin blotchy from the hot water. And by the Queen, despite his best efforts to keep borderline leering thoughts like this packed away, he’s the most beautiful thing Kravitz has seen. Taako rushes over to his vanity, picking up a brush and trying to run it through his hair wholesale, and of course, it stops about halfway through the length, caught in tangled curls from a day of exertion and a lightning quick shower. Taako tries to jerk on the brush with no results except a wince and blows out a long breath through his lips in a real show of restraint with his frustration.

“Can I help?” Kravitz asks, standing up and reaching for the brush. “I noticed your shoulders aren’t working with you today.”

Taako meets his gaze in the mirror, eyes widening in warning. “Are you sure? Just a head’s up, it’s real feisty today.”

Kravitz smirks and maintains the eye contact wryly. “I’m pretty sure it’s not anything I can’t handle.”

Taako rolls his eyes, but looks pleased all the same. “You’re just on a roll today, huh, bud?”

“I’m in a pretty good mood, I guess." Kravitz shrugs. "Got a date with a beautiful wizard later. I think I can deal with your hair.”

Taako gestures dismissively towards the back of his head. “Suit yourself,” he says, sitting heavily on the stool in front of the mirror. “I’ll see what magic I can do with my face. Thinking about a gold lid tonight.”

“Sounds wonderful,” Kravitz says, sincerely, pulling the brush carefully from Taako’s hair and starting at the bottom, working it in sections. He’s always been a fan of routine and what Taako would probably call “mind-numbing repetition”, and he settles quickly into a rhythm, losing himself in the tactile sensation of skimming his hands along Taako’s scalp, fingers sectioning the truly boggling amount of hair into something more manageable.

He’s so absorbed in his focus on the task at hand that he forgets he should probably be having a conversation with his date. He jolts slightly, eyes darting up to see Taako moisturizing his skin, an amused expression lighting up his eyes. “Having fun?”

Kravitz can feel an embarrassed smile rising on his face as he replies, “Of a sort. Want to tell me what happened to your shoulders?”

A theatrical despair overtakes Taako’s knowing smirk as he begins to regale Kravitz with the many transgressions committed on him today. Kravitz continues his work, unraveling the last tangle as Taako describes the third of Merle’s failed spell stunts. He tilts his head and wordlessly decides upon a braided style for Taako’s hair, working methodically through the first three smaller braids before he realizes Taako’s speech is slurring, the gaps between his sentences growing. His head is leaning back into Kravitz’s stomach and he’s dozed off mid-word. Kravitz immediately stills his hands in Taako’s hair, searching his face and frame for any sign that this is some weird goof, making sure he’s not going to suddenly jerk “awake” to startle him. But no, Taako’s face is slack in a way Kravitz has seen only a couple times, as if every care has been extracted from his jaw and temples, ears sagging, neck lolling back against him, eyeliner only done on one eye. The full meaning of this sinks in a few seconds later and Kravitz grins. 

Taako was so soothed by Kravitz’s fingers in his hair after a long day that he fell asleep. He really hadn’t been exaggerating about how much the physical training had taken out of him. Not that Kravitz ever thought he’d been lying, just overplaying the truth, painting the word pictures that he excelled so much in. But here he was, nodding off upright on a stool, held up only by Kravitz’s body, calm enough not to stir as Kravitz continues to run his fingers through his hair. He’s being incredibly self-indulgent, he knows, to spend a few moments looking at Taako, but he’s almost never this unguarded and without affectation, and he’s smiling slightly, a sweet curve to his cheeks and mouth. When he decides it’s probably been long enough to be considered creepy, he pulls his hands from Taako’s hair in an attempt to start waking the elf up. In his mostly asleep state, Taako’s eyebrows furrow as he makes a soft sound of loss, ears twitching in irritation, and he impossibly mumbles, “— _babe_?”

And it’s been hundred of years, literal _centuries_ , but Kravitz’s heart thumps hard in his chest, a nail in a coffin that he’s been refusing to accept for weeks: he’s so fucking in love with Taako.

A heartbeat shouldn’t be possible. His construct isn’t...real. It’s not a mortal body; it’s an extension of his Queen, and abruptly, he distinctly remembers her smug tone when she told him to have a good evening three or so hours ago. She certainly felt the change in him that he hadn’t been able to acknowledge to himself, let alone to his employer, his _deity_. How long has she known that Kravitz’s whole existence is shifting to accommodate Taako? How long has she looked at Kravitz’s soul and understood that it was reshaping itself to fit a mortal life?

As he looks at Taako’s face and thinks about how Taako considers him reliable, trustworthy, _safe_ , he can feel warmth burning in his chest and spreading out along his limbs. His hands, he realizes, are warm. Well, warmer, almost the temperature of a living person. He risks brushing his fingers along Taako’s cheek when he thinks he’s probably warm enough because he can’t possibly resist for another second. If he thought he could do it without jostling him, Kravitz would bend over to kiss Taako’s forehead. But he’s propping up Taako’s body with his legs and he wants to live in this moment for a while longer, but actually _literally living, holy fucking shit_. His heart is pounding unevenly and his cheeks are warming with a blush he thought he’d never be caught with ever again.

He’s still processing that he _loves_ Taako. It’s not just a crush that comes from being a lonely workaholic with no romantic prospects. He loves _Taako_ , an ex-bounty with definite trust issues and a penchant for gaudy wizard hats. He loves Taako, who calls him “bones” and “sweet thing” and “hot stuff” (which, until now, had been entirely ironic) and never by his real name. He is deeply in love with Taako who takes off his clothes without thinking, but won’t offer up information about his past unless it happens to come out in passing. He strokes Taako’s cheek with his warm thumb, savoring being able to cradle his jaw in his fingertips, and he honestly feels like he’s been given an enormously precious and fragile gift.

And just like that, with no warning, he’s afraid of fucking this up. He probably was scared before, but denial of his feelings was more powerful than dwelling on the fact that he can easily imagine his existence post-Taako and it is bleak. Being without Taako is a future he desperately doesn’t want to face. Kravitz wouldn’t admit it to anyone, and he hates thinking it in case the Raven Queen should take offense, but he was little more than a husk before he started spending time with Taako. He kept himself busy, amused himself by including accents on his bounties, read books and practiced on musical instruments when his Lady forced him to have down time. But it wasn’t a _life_. He just thought of himself as a vessel to do Her bidding, to make sure the balance of Life and Death was maintained. He didn’t look forward to anything, wasn’t interested in having fun, didn’t think that was part of him anymore. But being with Taako...it makes him feel joy, and more than that, he feels _wonder_ when he looks at Taako and thinks about all he’s been through and that he still has a sense of humor, still strives to make the most out of everything.

Taako was— _is_ —extremely guarded. He’s unable to feel vulnerable without lashing out. It would be simple, his brain supplies unhelpfully, to make Taako uncomfortable and unresponsive. He shares harsh truths about himself blithely at random intervals, as if expecting one thing will be Kravitz’s last straw, but he doesn’t take real, emotional praise well. He can recognize his talents readily, but can’t see his own empathy with any clarity at all, refuses to see himself as a good person in the slightest. Telling Taako he’s kind or, worse, worth being thought of as such is a short train to the end of a nice evening. What would he do if he found out how important he is to Kravitz? How would he respond if he knew that Kravitz thinks he’s warm and wonderful? It would be _so easy_ to ruin this delicate peace they’ve cultivated together.

And even if Kravitz didn’t ruin it, Taako’s job is so _dangerous_. He is constantly risking life and limb for this altruistic passion project that the Director is pursuing through the Reclaimers. Kravitz honestly can’t believe Taako is willing to do this, to put himself through someone else’s paces, for what seems to Kravitz to be so little gold. Every time they get together, Taako seems more run down, more exhausted from exercises and training drills. The last two weeks have been more intense; Kravitz can tell even if Taako hasn’t said so directly. He calls Kravitz most evenings after training and the time of day when Kravitz’s Stone rings has gotten steadily later and the conversations have gotten steadily shorter, Taako sometimes falling asleep in the middle of a sentence. He suddenly remembers that Taako said he had been in training for seven hours a day this week and feels sick that he didn’t say anything in the moment. That’s the longest they’ve ever gone on and Kravitz hasn’t _had_ to rest his body in quite a while, but it seems frankly irresponsible to be working them this hard. What is the Director preparing them for? What peril is she about to send these three fools into? And for what? A token to get a magical item they might not ever use and probably don’t need? 

Kravitz wants him to quit, to leave this weird moon cult and do something safer that he would enjoy, but it’s definitely not his place to say so. Taako jokes that at least if he dies, he’ll get to spend more time in the Astral Plane with Kravitz, and it makes something in Kravitz clench in disgust and near fury. What makes Taako believe his life is worth so little that he’ll just allow danger to be his career? It’s an ancient and overprotective thought, but he’d like to duel every single person who made Taako scared of being happy. He’d like to undo everything that made Taako content to figuratively (and, he supposes, literally) court Death.

Kravitz has no idea how long he’s been standing still with one hand cupping Taako’s face, feeling simultaneously lucky, furious, and petrified before Taako’s eyelids begin to flutter and slowly blink open, heavy with sleep as he tries to take in his surroundings. But he knows it takes the wizard 17 blissful seconds of Kravitz smoothing out the creases at his temple before he realizes what he’s done and jerks upright to sit on his own power, his ears straight up in alarm. “Whoops. Sorry, my dude. Didn’t mean to make you my personal body pillow.”

Kravitz smiles. “Don’t worry about it. It was my privilege.”

Taako doesn’t seem to have an answer for this, looks supremely uncomfortable, like an animal that would like nothing more than to bolt off to a hiding spot. So, Kravitz steps in before Taako can kick him out.

“I think we should probably cancel our dinner plans, yeah? I can get some takeout for the two of us and you can stay here and get settled for bed.”

Taako looks like he’d like to dispute that, but when he opens his mouth to do so, a yawn escapes him instead, squashing any arguments he had about not being tired, ears settling down into a more comfortable looking position. “That sounds great, hot stuff.”

The best thing about Taako being awake now, Kravitz decides, is that he can feel free to kiss Taako’s forehead without fear of waking him up before he asks, “What do you want me to bring back?”

Taako doesn’t even pause for two seconds before he answers, “Fantasy Indian food.”

Kravitz grins. “I should have guessed. Any particular requests?”

Taako’s smile fades slightly, his eyes narrowed and ears sliding backward. “Surprise me.”

Kravitz sees a potential minefield there, but decides not to push further, assuming Taako needs a little space to come to terms with the fact that he just let himself fall asleep on Kravitz. “Can do,” he replies, tilting Taako’s head up to kiss his lips in a quick peck that he realizes is their first today. He’s stepping away to cut a portal to Taako’s favorite place in Goldcliff when Taako’s eyes narrow even further and he says, “Hold on.”

Kravitz, hand already stretched out to summon his scythe, aborts the gesture and says, “What’s up?”

Taako wets his bottom lip and leans back toward the bed. “What was the theme of the event when we went to Chug ‘n’ Squeeze?”

“Cab and Vase,” Kravitz answers instantly, eyebrows furrowing. “Why—”

Taako’s lips are turned up in a smile, but his eyes are searching Kravitz and his ears are even further back. “And what did I do to decorate my vase?”

“You made a _bowl_.” Kravitz is starting to feel afraid now. “Do you not rem—”

“Of course I do, kemosabe,” he swiftly sits up again, Umbrastaff gripped in his white-knuckled hand, ears now pinned back against his skull, pointing it at Kravitz who raises his hands immediately, obviously; he’s not an idiot. “But my Kravitz doesn’t have warm skin, so I want to know who and what the fuck you are.”

Kravitz’s brain catches on the phrase “my Kravitz”, his stupid besotted heart giving a leap in his chest, but he pushes that aside to try to think of something that would convince Taako that he is the same Kravitz...that Taako thinks of as _his_? _Focus, you absolute numbskull_. “Last Friday, I spend the night here.”

Taako doesn’t shift an inch. “So? Anyone living on this moonbase could have Clairvoyance.”

Kravitz swallows, not wanting to touch a nerve, but not knowing how else to do this. “You told me you’d never slept a full night in a bed with someone else, not even when you were young. Not that you remember sleeping in many beds as a kid, but—”

“Alright,” Taako says, looking nearly mollified, lowering, but not putting aside his magical focus. “Explain to me how you’re warm.”

Kravitz looks at the ceiling and hopes his blush isn’t as obvious as it feels. “I—uh—you—”

Taako raises the staff slightly. “Time’s tickin’.”

“My heart started beating,” he blurts out, feeling the heat in his cheeks intensifying. “I didn’t know it was possible at all, I mean, I’m dead, obviously, but...it did.”

Taako’s eyes widen and he tilts his head, the hand on his staff relaxing. “Oh? And what caused that?”

Kravitz takes a deep breath in through his nose and out of his mouth, mostly filling time, before realizing that he’s breathing now. Does he need to breathe now? He’s been so focused on Taako, he can’t even remember if he was breathing before this exact moment. “Actually, on reflection, it might be my soul pulsing.”

“That doesn’t answer my question, bones.” The Umbrastaff is by his side now and Kravitz counts it as a victory.

“Right. Uh, well, you see, I was braiding your hair—”

“You got some kind of kink or?”

“No, that’s not it,” he replies firmly, lips pressing together. “You felt—you were asleep and I—I was trying to pull away and you—you didn’t like that and you said—you were just so—” _Don’t say sweet, Kravitz, for the love of all that’s holy, you moron_ — “—calm, when you were sleeping. Like you felt safe.”

Taako has long since taken his hand away from his spell focus. He’s still eyeing Kravitz carefully, although with his smile, it feels more predatory now than defensive. “What did I say?”

Oh, _fuck_. He had been trying so hard not to call Taako sweet and make him prickly that Kravitz forgot to protect his own dignity. He holds off for a few long seconds, trying to come up with a suitable half-truth and decides that he’ll just have to go for it. “You called me babe.”

Taako’s eyes light up, ears perked up and forward in glee. “Oh, _did_ I now? And you liked that, huh?”

There was absolutely no hope that his blush was unnoticeable now and he had no recourse except to cover his face with both hands. “Can I go get Fantasy Tikka Masala now?”

“Sure,” Taako says, innocently, as if Kravitz can’t _hear_ his grin. He waits until Kravitz removes his protective face shield to finish, “—babe.”

Kravitz is never going to live this down.

**Author's Note:**

> Kravitz’s plan for Taako hair was generally [this](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/cf/92/7d/cf927dc6b194c6001814032cc5b4a12e.jpg), although he did not get close to finishing at all. Also, reminder: in my house, it’s always loving Lucretia hours; Kravitz is just agitated.
> 
> I wrote this months ago, holding onto it in hopes of gaining more of a backlog of fic before I started posting again. But I'm in grad school and I got tired of waiting for validation. No beta because we die like men, but also hit me up if you're interested in my intermittent TAZ bullshit.
> 
> You can find me on [Tumblr](https://deepcomplaint.tumblr.com) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/deepcomplaint) @deepcomplaint. And if you want to hear my other Taakitz song inspirations, you can find those on Spotify [here](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://open.spotify.com/user/67dmf1sdyz1rk985apcupq7t7/playlist/0Zvxw3XE2HppL9kNR4R9hW?si%3Dj3DBKwIQR_q8ij7ConwjKw&sa=D&ust=1578293786170000&usg=AFQjCNFTQy4tgMlVeb-N_WnVEtELGb_4TQ).
> 
> I love you! Have a good day!


End file.
